Following the wide spread use of chemical weaponry, the Geneva Convention took place in 1925 to set forth the rules of war. One of the regulations was the discontinued use of chemical and biological warfare. Unfortunately, many countries would violate this document in order to gain an advantage over their adversaries. The Japanese, Soviet Union, and United States biological weapon programs are merely a few within the world, each committed to their own purpose. These are the countries that will have the history of their weapons programs told within this paper. The Japanese would begin their main biological weapons experimentations in 1935 after the Japanese invasion of China. It was there that Unit 731 was founded in the forests of Pingfang. The program was run by General Shirō Ishii after he had shown promise in his preliminary experiments a few years prior. A few of the experiments included injecting diseases into Chinese such as cholera and typhoid into subjects and studying their reactions. The “logs,” as the doctors called them, would be dissected while still living. Diseases were also spread by the Japanese through rice and wheat that was filled with fleas infected with the bubonic plague (Watts). This practice was the cause of the plague outbreak near Ningbo in 1940. However, the death toll was not extraordinarily high at 106 casualties. There was a repeat of this attack on Jinhua. The difference with this attack was that the Chinese were prepared for it. Pellets dropped from the planes were swept off the streets and collected for study in local hospitals. It was in these hospitals that it was discovered what was being dropped down upon the people. Death counts on this attack were kept in the single digits (Keiichi). ... ... middle of paper ... ...came to a close, so did the War Reserve Service. The War Reserve Service would be shut down in 1946; this would not be the end of the United States biological weapons program. With the close of the war came the trials of Axis war criminals, it was then that the United States would begin its next stage in biological weapon engineering. The Americans were able to reach a deal with Ishii, leader of Unit 731, in which he and his team would be given immunity for the forfeiture of his years of work testing biological weapons on human subjects. This move, as previously stated, has been heavily criticized by every country that was victimized by Ishii’s cruel and unusual testing procedures. With the onset of the Korean War the United States government was faced with a tricky subject. They were fearful of the communist biological program becoming involved within the turmoil.
As we move into the Twentieth Century the similarities are almost identical. The First World War has shaped not only modern warfare but even produced global attention to the brutal and inhumane death toll of the war. As stated in the Geneva Protocol, which prohibited the use of chemical weapons in warfare, which was signed in 1925? While this was a welcomed step, the Protocol had a number of significant short comings, including the fact that it did not prohibit the development, production or stockpiling of chemical weapons.
Shiro Ishii was able to convince high command the necessity in importance of the use of biological and chemical weapons. Unit 731 would be formed under his leadership and moved to the country of china where the Japanese military would secure the area of Manchuria.
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
The purpose of this essay is to deal with the fact that chemical warfare should be brought back to modern warfare strategies. As Warren Rudman said, “And they will tell you unequivocally that if we have a chemical or biological attack or a nuclear attack anywhere in this country, they are unprepared to deal with it today, and that is of high urgency.” Rudman’s words are true in what they say and that we should do everything to counter-act his statement. Biological weapons are a key to outstanding success in war and therefore, I strongly suggest that chemical warfare is an effective and producible weapon tactic that can be used on today’s battlefield.
Guillemin, J. (2004). [Review of the book Biowarrior: Inside the Soviet/Russian Biological War Machine by Wendy Orent; Judith Miller; Allan P. Zelicoff]. The History of Science Society, 95(3), 527-528.
Concerned about rumors of communist brainwashing of POWs during the Korean war, in April 1953 CIA Director Allen Dulles authorized the MKULTRA program, which would later become notorious for the unusual and sometimes inhumane tests that the CIA financed. Reviewing the experiments five years later, one secrecy-conscious CIA auditor wrote: “Precautions must be taken not only to protect operations from exposure to enemy forces but also to conceal these activities from the American public in general. The knowledge that the agency is engaging in unethical and illicit activities would have serious repercussions in political and diplomatic circles.”
Clark, D. K. (1959). Effectiveness of chemical weapons in WWI. Bethesda, Md.: Operations Research Office, Johns Hopkins University.
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) was asked to go to Korea in early 1952 to investigate suspected war crimes committed by the Americans. Among the tasks in their charter was the investigation of the use of biological weapons. While over 169 areas were suspected to have been contaminated with different biological weapon dispersions, the IADL gave brief descriptions of 15 ‘typical’ sites, while going into great detail abo...
Most of us know of the horrible experiments that the Nazis performed on the Jews during the holocaust. However, very few of us know about the experiments that Unit 731, a Japanese
This chapter gives detailed information about a man named Lawrence Brilliant and how his guru encourages his efforts to join the small pox eradication program. The eradication program is outlined through this chapter which was led by DA Henderson. Chapter four “The Other Side of The Moon” Starts with Vladimir Pasechnik and his desertion of his country to the United Kingdom. This chapter outlines how he gave information on the soviet biological weapons program to MI6. This chapter shows that the Russians had ICBMs armed with smallpox. This chapter also talks about biological weapons facilities located in Russia and Iraq. This chapter also goes through the what the Ad Hoc Committee on Orothopox Infections is and much of the work they do. It discusses the history of thr committee and debates between Da Henderson and Peter Jahrling on their differences. Chapter five “A Woman With a Peaceful Life” outlines a microbiologist and epidemiologist named Dr. Lisa Hensley. It describes the her story relating to how she was first hired to work with Ebola. It goes through the a January 2000 accident titled the “Hot
During the Second World War, Japan committed many heinous war crimes. Pearl Harbor, the Rape of Nanking, and the torturing of POW’s, are all high on the list of notable war crimes, but there is one that is often overlooked. For a ten year span (1935-1945), Japan was very keen on the idea of developing more diverse and destructive chemical and biological weapons. This may sound like every other Allied and Axis country, but Japan’s experiments would make even Josef Mengele cringe. The reason why I am saying this is because, Japan’s “Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department” (a.k.a Unit 731), was an excuse for human experimentation and torture. Even more sickening than this, is the fact that United States granted amnesty to all those involved in these unexcusable acts against humanity, in return for information on their research.
Throughout the progression of mankind, there has always been a need to become superior in tactics and technology over an opponent. It did not take long for man to discover the effective and deadly tactic of Bioterrorism, which is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria or other germs used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. As time passes, everything about bioterrorism becomes more and more sophisticated, making it very difficult to combat with. By examining the history of bioterrorism, one can learn how military forces utilize this deadly weapon.
Harris, S. H. (2002). Factories of death: Japanese biological warfare, 1932-1945, and the American cover-up (Rev. ed.). New York: Routledge.
Broyles, Janell. Chemical and Biological Weapons in a Post-9/11 World. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2005. Print.
...cy on biological warfare. During his visit to Fort Detrick, he announced that the United States would terminate all research on biological weapons. By the year 1972 the United States had completely destroyed all biological weapon stockpile. In return of this act the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention was held, As a result of 118 countries signed a agreeing not to develop, produce, or stockpile any form of biological weapon(Mayer p4). Unfortunately despite many laws passed over time, few countries have abided by them. Evidence of this came in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s there were reports that the Soviet Union was using biological weapons in Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan (Mayer p 4).